Burger King to source eggs from cage-free chickens by 2017

Company's pig meat to also come from cage-free animals

Burger King has announced that it will source all its eggs and pig meat from cage-free chickens and pigs by 2017, a move that could open a significant new market for the egg and pig meat industries. Nine percent of the corporation's eggs and 20 percent of its pig meat are already cage-free.

Burger King has been increasing its use of cage-free eggs and pig meat as the industry has become better able to meet demand, said Jonathan Fitzpatrick, chief brand and operations officer. He said the decision is part of the company's social responsibility policy. "We believe this decision will allow us to leverage our purchasing power to ensure the appropriate and proper treatment of animals by our vendors and suppliers," he said. The company uses hundreds of millions of eggs and tens of millions of pounds of pig meat annually.

Wendy's and McDonald's have asked their pig meat suppliers to outline plans for the elimination of gestation crates without setting a timetable.